


Just the Radio

by sonictrowel



Series: Long Night in the Blue House [68]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Family Feels, Gen, Humor, Light Angst, We can only hope, is this chapter going to be all girl?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-20
Updated: 2017-07-20
Packaged: 2018-12-04 10:45:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11553576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sonictrowel/pseuds/sonictrowel
Summary: It was July of ’65 and it was bloody hot on the isle of Manhattan.  Of course, they’d had wildly anachronistic environmental control systems in their house since they moved in some twenty-eight years back.  But needs must, and occasionally they had to go out into the world and descend into the tortuous stale heat of the New York subway system.





	Just the Radio

[Earth, 1965]

“What station you want?” Milly asked, collapsing into an armchair and pulling her sonic from her pocket.

“Don’t care,” Athena replied dully.  She was sprawled across the sofa, her arm dangling limply over the side.

It was July of ’65 and it was bloody hot on the isle of Manhattan.  Of course, they’d had wildly anachronistic environmental control systems in their house since they moved in some twenty-eight years back.  But needs must, and occasionally they had to go out into the world and descend into the tortuous stale heat of the New York subway system.

They’d gotten back from a trip to the shops half an hour ago and were still recovering.  Milly scanned through the stations with short bursts of the sonic, listening for something interesting.  Who needed to wait around for decent remote controls?

She stopped when her ears pricked up at the swell of strings.  “Oh my god… this is it!”

“What?” Athena asked, turning her head in Milly’s general direction.

“This is it— the proper one!  Righteous Brothers!  I’ve been waiting ten years for this!”

“Oh yeah… you couldn’t get the hell _away_ from this song in ’55.  Why’re you so excited about it again?”

“Shh!  This is the real one!  Well— the best one.”

Athena rolled her eyes and smiled, turning her head back and settling in to listen.

The voice of Bobby Hatfield filled the living room.   _“And time goes by so slowly, and time can do so much…”_

“Okay,” Athena mumbled after a while, “this one’s pretty good.”

“Don’t look at me,” Milly sniffed, “I’m having emotions.”

Athena immediately opened her eyes, of course, and sat up slightly to look over her shoulder, an amused grin on her face.

Just then Amy shuffled into the room, her nose in a dogeared spiral-bound manuscript.

“Don’t look at her, she’s having emotions,” Athena deadpanned, pointing at Milly.

“Ohh,” Amy sighed, lifting her head from her reading with a faraway look in her eyes.  “Patrick Swayze.”

“Demi Moore,” Milly replied dreamily.

“What the hell are you guys talking about?”

“You’ll find out in 1990,” Amy said, sitting in the other armchair.

“I have really had enough of the future pop culture references.  Couldn’t Mom and Dad have stocked the place with— what did you call them, blue rays?  If they knew you were going to be so insufferable about it...”

Milly burst into laughter.

“Aww, honey,” Amy said.  “We’re not even at Betamax.”

“There you go again,” Athena sighed, dropping dramatically back onto the cushions.

They stayed in companionable silence until the song concluded, Amy paging through her reading and Athena drumming her fingers on her stomach.  Milly watched her fidget out of the corner of her eye; she definitely had a thought brewing.

“Do you think I should go back to school?” she finally asked, over the opening of _Satisfaction_.

“Yeah, why not?” Amy said.  “Get as many degrees in as you can before the tuition starts costing as much as a house.”  She paused, and amended, “couple of houses.”

“What should I do this time?”

“Well,” said Milly, “you’ve done art history, linguistics and biochem… maybe physics?  Or there’s always the family tradition!”

“I told you, I’m saving that one,” Athena laughed.

“I feel like living with a couple of super-geniuses ought to’ve rubbed off on me more,” Amy lamented.  “You can’t complain too much, Athena, the two of you can talk circles round me and your grandad when it comes to all that sciencey stuff.”

“Well he ought to have an idea about science, he _is_ a doctor,” Milly laughed.  “Oh, that’s it!  Athena, just pick one you’ve already started and get your PhD!   _That_ is the real family tradition.”

Honestly, if they were here much longer and Athena still hadn’t gone for one, she might be in trouble for not properly instilling the value of education in her, or something.  Now that they’d _both_ recently been university lecturers there would be no stopping them.

“Can’t I just do what Dad does and pretend?” Athena groaned.  “I hate doing one thing for that long, it’s boring.”

“Hey, it’s never too late,” said Amy.  “Your grandad didn’t finish school til he was fifty, and some of us don’t just quit aging when we’re young and pretty.   _You’ve_ got no reason to rush.”

“We age!"  Milly objected.  “Just… slowly.”

“Glacially,” Amy replied.

“Well, yeah, I guess.  But!  You never know after the first time round… I could just regenerate into an old lady!  Or an old man, I suppose…” she shuddered.

“And don’t be ridiculous, Gran, you’re still gorgeous,” Athena said.

Amy preened.  “Knew I keep you girls around for something.”

“Oh, thanks,” Milly laughed.

Something was nagging at the back of her mind again, suddenly.  The music had given way to the radio host talking again, and— that was it.  “They’ve got an English host on this station?”

“A Northern one,” Amy added.

Athena shrugged.

They hadn’t quite tuned into what the woman was actually saying until they heard very un-radio-hostlike giggling.

“What’s she on about?” Amy said faintly.

“Oh, hello, dears, have I got your attention yet?” the radio said.

 _Oh, shit._  Milly’s eyes went wide and she stared down into her lap.

“God, this _is_ weird, innit?  I suppose it’s too late for ‘don’t blink,’” the woman muttered, sounding far away.

“What did she just say?” Amy asked sharply.

“Hi, yes, sorry, starting again,” said the woman.  “I’m under very strict orders to not make this all emotiony so, you know, brave heart, girls.  And you, Amy.  You’re counted as a girl.  Though I suppose you’re almost sixty but, I’m sure you’re—” there was a pause before she said brightly, “yes, okay, shutting up now!”

 _“What?”_ Amy laughed in derisive disbelief, looking to Milly and Athena.  “What is this?”

“Fair question!  I am… a… frieeeendd… of your dad’s,” she said slowly.  “That ought to explain all the wibbly-wobbly, um, whotsit, stuff.  Yeah?”

“Oh my god,” Milly groaned, dropping her head in her hand.

The woman cleared her throat pointedly.

“I’m sorry, is… is the radio talking to us right now?  I mean, _actually_ us?” said Athena.

“’Course I am, love.  Someone used their sonic to change the station, I bet?  There was a bit of software in there.  Clever, right?”

Amy and Athena exchanged looks and Milly averted her eyes again.

“Well, don’t all go at once,” the woman in the radio said, sounding put-out.  “Anyway, sorry to say this isn’t a social call.  I’ve been… advised against those.  But this is important, so listen up, kids.  It’s all being sorted.  Gallifrey’s reached an… agreement with the Song family.  They owe us, just a bit.  — _Them!_  Owe _them!_  Oh, bollocks.”

“Wait, I’m, I’m sorry, _who_ are you?” Athena said.

“Wha— you put money on this?!”  The woman sounded far-off again.  “Rude!  ...How long did I get?”  There was a short pause.  “Oh, shut up.”

“I’m sorry, are we interrupting something?” Amy asked irritatedly.

The woman sighed.  “If you’d be so kind, Mils.”

“Um,” Milly said, looking from Amy to Athena, both of them gaping at her, uncomprehending.  “It’s Dad.”

 _“What?”_ Amy laughed.  “It’s a woman!”

“Oh, well spotted, Pond,” said woman replied drily.

Amy’s smile evaporated.   _“Doctor?”_

“Great!  We’re all introduced, so let’s move on and definitely not spend loads of time talkin' about this being weird for you.  ’Kay?  Good.”

“Is it really you?” Athena asked.

“Yeah, it is, kitten,” she replied warmly.  “You doing alright?”

Athena laughed, a huge smile on her face and tears in her eyes.  “Yeah.  Yeah, we’re great.  Thanks for the um, house and stuff.”

“It’s not the TARDIS, but we did our best.”

“Wait… do I still call you Dad?” Athena asked.

“Yeah, just go with it.  With all the time mixups and that, no point makin' it any more confusing.”

“But hang on, Milly,” Amy said, “you’ve talked a little about your Doctor before, and… maybe I just assumed, but I swear it sounded like he was a man.”

“Well, it’s tricky with future stuff, I’m not supposed to give it away.  And I’ve spent a lot of time with Eyebrows, too, and—”

“Ah-ah!” the Doctor interrupted loudly.  “That's enough about that!

“Wait,” Athena said, narrowing her eyes, “so was she… her, when you were born?  Cause then how were you even…”

An uncomfortable pause ensued while Milly looked at the ceiling and prayed to be spared from such questions.

“If I say 'spoilers' about this, it’s gonna sound really weird, isn’t it?” her dad mumbled.

“Yeah, pretty much,” Milly sighed.

“Movin' on, then!"

Amy shook her head incredulously, pinching the bridge of her nose, but she was still smiling.

"So, how do I phrase this without muckin' up the chronology…” the Doctor trailed off thoughtfully.  “In the future, a thing is going to happen, right?  But it has to be far enough in the future that _all_ our pasts are behind it.  Milly’s the farthest on right now, so she needs to go there whenever you girls leave New York.  You'll get coordinates."

She paused for a moment.  "And that’s up to you, when you go.  We miss you so much, but I know you’ve got a life there with your Gran and Grandad and I want you all to have each other.  Either way, we’re going to meet when we meet.  It’s fixed.”

Amy sniffled, looking annoyed to have tears in her eyes.

“But Athena…” the Doctor’s voice quivered a little and she paused. “I’m so sorry, kitten, but you’ll have to use the fob watch.  I’ve altered it so it won’t change your biology or erase all your memories, it’ll act as a disguise for the Time Lordy bits, and take all the stuff in your mind that has to do with who me and your mum are and hold onto it for a while.  It’s enough that they won’t be able to find you until we all catch up to Milly for the thing.”

“But if I’m going to forget, how will _I_  get to… the thing?” Athena asked.

She didn’t answer right away.  Milly looked down at her lap.

“I’m so sorry,” she said again, softly.  “But don’t worry about that, sweetheart.  You already have done.  And it’s all goin' to work out in the end, okay?”

“Okay…” Athena said, glancing nervously at Milly.  Milly offered her a faint smile and quickly looked down again.

“I’m not, I’m not!” the Doctor was shouting at someone off to the side again.  “Big smiles!  Like a robot’s gonna eat you, right?”

“What?” Athena laughed.

“Anyway.  I’m going to send you the other piece of the arch.”

“I think you already did,” Milly said.  “It says not to open til 1996.”

“Well.  There we are, then.”  She sighed heavily.  

“Can you stay on a while, Doctor?” Amy asked.  “Rory’s going to be home any time now.”

“Nah... I think I’ll let you have the pleasure of deliverin' the news.  How is the old Roman?”

“He’s a doctor now,” Amy said, a proud smile spreading over her face.

“Aw, that’s brilliant!  Good on him.  You see, I told you, we should make that a requirement,” she added, off to the side.

“Who’ve you got with you, Dad?” Milly asked.

“Oh, that was only Nardole.  He says hi.”

“Who did he make the bet with, then?”

“Annnd that’s my cue to go, I’m afraid!  You girls be good for the Ponds, won’t you?”

“We’re adults, Dad,” Athena laughed.

“I’m over twice their age!” said Milly.

“Well, even so.  I’m... sorry I can’t talk more.  Have to limit how much I’m crossing over the timeline.  Amy, it’s…” she trailed off, sounding wobbly again.

“I’m glad you called,” Amy said.  “You’ve got a couple of great kids, Doctor.”  She smiled sadly, looking down and fiddling with her hands.  “Thanks for making River happy.  And thanks for letting us have them while you can’t.  I know what that’s like.  And… now I know what the other way’s like, too.”

There was a long pause before she answered thickly, “Oh, Pond.  We made a big tangled mess of everything, huh?”

“Couldn’t imagine it any other way.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Whoo, sorry for the long wait on this one! I have been writing quite a lot in the interim, and I have two more chapters almost ready to go, but we've gotten to that sticky point in the story when the final plot reveals are starting to come out and I need to be very careful about the order of things. So it requires more writing a lot simultaneously to see what I can let out first and make sure I don't get any wires crossed in this very complex timey wimey ball of nonsense I have somehow ended up writing.
> 
> And I had been planning having a little bit of Thirteen in it since long before Jodie was cast, but I'm so pleased it's her because I know her acting well enough to try to envision what her Doctor might be like. Could be totally wrong, but oh well.
> 
> Thanks so much for all your lovely comments on the last one! Don't worry, there's plenty more Eight, River and Twelve to come :)


End file.
